You are here

Condo conversions and tax bills

Last updated:
3/29/16

Condo conversions and tax bills

What to keep in mind about your tax bill during a condo conversion.

Toggle

Article Menu

Tax bills for a given fiscal year always reflect the status of the property on January 1 prior to the start of the fiscal year. If a property is sold or the use of the property changes, those updates aren’t immediately reflected in a tax bill.

WHEN A PROPERTY IS CONVERTED INTO CONDOS

There may be a time before each unit owner gets an individual tax bill. However, each unit owner is responsible for a share of the total property tax bill. To find the amount each owner has to pay, multiply the unit owner’s percentage of interest in the common area by the bill amount.

Here’s an example of how you might share a property tax bill:

A five-unit building converts to condos on August 30, 2016.

The building gets a quarterly property tax bill in November 2016 for $2,500.

The Master Deed for the building lists out the common area percentages for the condo units. The tax bill for each unit could be:

Unit

Common area percentage

Tax amount unit owner needs to pay

1

25%

$625

2

20%

$500

3

20%

$500

4

20%

$500

5

15%

$375

To protect yourself in case another condo unit owner doesn’t pay their share, keep track of your payments. This provides proof that you paid your taxes.

The timing of tax bills

For the 2017 fiscal year, most condo conversions recorded before January 1, 2016 will get first-quarter tax bills on July 1, 2016. When there is a big condo conversion, or there is an issue with recording the conversion, we will send tax bills in the third quarter.

We will bill most conversions during the 2016 calendar year in time for the first quarter of fiscal year 2018 that will begin on July 1, 2017. Here’s a timeline:

Calendar year of conversion

Fiscal Year where conversion is shown on first-quarter tax bill

2016

2018

2017

2019

2018

2020

If you have any questions, contact the Assessing Department Tax Data Administration unit at 617-635-3783.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

feedback

Our site is live, but not completed. We'll always be adding to and improving on it and need your ideas and to make Boston.gov easier to understand and more delightful to use.